


A new skin (just getting used to it)

by Aegithalos_caudatus



Series: Voltron galra Keith omo [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bed-Wetting, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Omorashi, Wetting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 21:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21042722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aegithalos_caudatus/pseuds/Aegithalos_caudatus
Summary: Arc 2 of galra Keith's stay with the dads of Marmora.





	1. Chapter 1

On the morning marking the beginning of the third movement since Keith’s mishap with quintessence, he was sleeping in the nest room alone. Ever since he had changed, he had been sleeping more deeply, needing quite a bit of prodding to fully wake up, so when his packmates carefully left the nest in the middle of the night, he did not so much as stir.

The main base of the Blade of Marmora had been in a flux of chaos that night, as one of the deeply infiltrated agents had been compromised and a hasty extraction mission had been executed. With Kolivan planning, Antok gathering a team and the equipment they would need, Thace in charge of communications and Ulaz on emergency standby in the infirmary, everyone had forgotten about their kit’s schedule for the moment.

It was only after Ulaz had treated everyone’s - thankfully only light - injuries that he remembered and sent a frantic message to the pack chat. Antok’s job was not very important once the team had returned to the base, so he was the one to rush back to the nest room to check on Keith.

*****

When Keith woke up, he found himself alone in the nest room. That did not surprise him much. After the first movement of being constantly watched he began to feel stifled and asked the others to back off a bit. His packmates had been understanding, and while they did not stop spending time with him and supervising most of his activities, they did allow him to spend some time alone in the nest room to relax, which often resulted in him taking a short nap. When Ulaz had noted that these little breaks had decreased his stress level significantly, they were swiftly incorporated into his daily schedule (“Kits need the stability of routine to feel safe and to develop properly.” was the answer he got when he protested against the strictly structured plans).

He was generally left to wake up by himself in the morning and one of his packmates would come to get him in time for his morning toilet. He had been asked to try going on his own a few times, usually by Ulaz who then observed how much he could get out and tried to judge how much longer he will need to be stimulated. So far he hadn’t managed to void completely by himself and needed to be assisted, but that morning something was different. 

On that morning, Keith woke up wet.

His first reaction was confusion. He couldn’t remember being woken up during the night so his bladder should be full and sore right now. And galra didn’t sweat, so why was he wet? He had gotten so used to the idea that he couldn’t go without help that his still sleepy brain did not connect the lack of pain in his bladder and the feeling of dampness beneath him at first. He shifted away from the feeling and relaxed, prepared to fall asleep again when a wet warmth bloomed beneath him.

Keith shot up into a sitting position and clutched at his crotch to stop the stream, but a pair of big three-fingered hands pulled his hands away.

*****

As soon as the door to the nest room opened, Antok’s nose was assaulted by a faint smell of urine. He knew it had to have come from the kit and a quick analysis of the scent confirmed that. The kit had wet in his sleep! That was good since it meant that his bladder had not overfilled, but Antok remembered how he had reacted when he had wet in the nest the last time and decided that this called for a gentle approach.

Crossing the room as quietly as possible, he knelt next to the kit and was about to wake him when Keith shuffled a bit and then sat up abruptly, clutching at his spraying penis. It took Antok a tick to realize that the kit was trying to stop himself from urinating, but as soon as he did he pulled the kit’s hands away.

“Relax. Let it happen. It’s alright, the sheets will need to be washed anyway.”

With that, the kit obviously gave up fighting it. His stream picked up and he spread his legs to get them away from the expanding wet spot. Antok began rubbing his belly to help the process along but it wasn’t really needed. Keith kept going for a while and when the flow finally tapered off, he pressed himself under the older galra’s chin to hide.

Antok could feel him trembling with barely repressed sobs and decided that this could not stand. Picking the kit up, he tossed him into the air and caught him, eliciting a startled yelp, and then hugged him tightly with a deep purr.

“Antok, stop!” whined Keith, “I’ll get your suit dirty.”

“Nonsense! This suit has been splashed with a lot of worse things. This is more important. You were able to pee entirely by yourself! That’s a big milestone for a kit. Just wait till we tell the others. This calls for a celebration!”

“Could we not?” groaned Keith, embarrassed but no longer upset, “I don’t want the entire base to know about this.”

“A small celebration in Kolivan’s office then,” Antok compromised “This really is an important occasion that needs to be commemorated.”

“Ok, fine. You win. Just help me clean up first.”

*****

Since the whole base was still disorganized and the others busy, Keith and Antok amused themselves by sneaking treats and unhealthy foods into Kolivan’s office in preparation of the special breakfast. The others would be arriving in a few doboshes and Keith was blushing so much he felt like his face must be emitting a red glow visible even through his fur. He wasn’t used to having such a fuss made over him and so much ado about celebrating his first independent pee was making him extremely flustered.

Ulaz, Kolivan and Thace entered the room, surprised at the sight of all the junk food. Keith had a strong urge to hide under Kolivan’s table when Antok loudly explained what was the occasion, but the others quickly pulled him closer, hugging and congratulating him. Apparently, being able to go without being stimulated for the first time was always followed by a celebration amongst galra and nobody cared that he had soiled the nest.

“I thought that galra don’t have pee accidents,” muttered Keith and the others laughed.

“We don’t, usually, but a kit who has just gained the ability will have them from time to time. I’m sure you have noticed, but relaxing is important in order to be able to release and sleepy kits in the nest tend to get too relaxed sometimes,” explained Thace while munching on a space sausage with a grin.

“Don’t worry. Wet blankets are just something that comes with having a young kit in the nest. We all knew this might happen and we don’t mind it.”


	2. Chapter 2

After everyone left to attend to their duties, Keith stayed in Kolivan’s office, learning about the enemy supply routes and the Blade’s plans to sabotage and pilfer them. It was an intriguing work and Keith soon found himself commenting on the proposed strategies, using his own experience as a pilot. This sparked a debate between him and the Blade leader and even prompted a few adjustments to the plans. They would have continued for a long time if Kolivan hadn’t glanced at the base’s clock by a chance and stopped.

“I believe it is past the time for your bathroom break, kit. There’s one just at the end of the corridor. You can be done and back in 5 doboshes.”

Keith’s ears drooped at that and his tail slunk between his legs, obviously displaying fear. To say that Kolivan was alarmed by the reaction would be an understatement. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Please don’t make me use the common bathrooms!” the kit whispered urgently, with tears just brimming in his eyes.

“We wouldn’t force you to do that, but why are you so frightened of them?”

“I don’t know, but every time I pass by one I get so scared that it makes me sick to my stomach.”

Kolivan wasn’t sure what to do, so he hugged Keith and purred at him until the kit fell asleep and then he called Ulaz.

*****

Ulaz didn’t waste any time in getting to Kolivan’s office after being messaged that something was wrong with Keith. When he found the kit deeply asleep in one of the chairs with dried tear tracks on his fur, his first instinct was to rush towards him and check him for any injuries or signs of sickness, but Kolivan stopped him and motioned for him to sit down. Then he spoke in a quiet voice:

“Don’t worry, he’s just asleep.”

“What happened? Why was he crying?”

“I had noticed that it was past the time for his break and told him to go, he was terrified that we would make him use the public bathrooms. Apparently just being near them scares him to the point of nausea. Any idea what that might be about?”

“I can think of one reason why this might be happening, but I will need to do a little test. Can you take him to the nursery for me? I will join you in a few doboshes.”

*****

When Ulaz finally arrived at the nursery door Keith was awake and confused.

“‘Van said that you want to test something on me, but why here?”

“It’s to find the reason behind your fear of public bathrooms. Now, you have been in the nursery before. Can you describe how the room makes you feel?”

“The lack of scent is really weird.”

“Mhm. Ok then, Keith, I want you to take this pad, go into the room alone, and try going on it.”

When the door closed behind the kit, Kolivan turned to the doctor.

“What is the meaning of this? Is something wrong with our kit?”

“Not if my guess is right. It might be just a recessive galran trait. It’s not very common nowadays, but not unheard of either, it just gets misdiagnosed as anxiety more often than not. I will explain all about it once I know for sure.”

Keith soon came back, even more perplexed than before and confirmed that he hadn’t managed to empty his bladder. Ulaz did not look surprised at that and instructed Kolivan to go in the room and to stay near the kit while he tried again, but not to help him in any way.

Once they were inside, Keith turned to the Blade leader.

“Do you know what this is all about?”

“No,” Kolivan growled in frustration, “All I can tell you is that Ulaz is being purposely mystifying. Come, kit, let’s try again.”

They walked up to the pad that had been spread on the floor and Kolivan stood beside it while Keith squatted down on it. He didn’t see the point in trying again, expecting to fail and to be told he had to go back to being stimulated, but once he relaxed, a stream of pee burst forth so quickly he almost fell on his butt in surprise. 

“That’s strange. I couldn't even get a trickle before.”

“Let me wipe you down quickly, so we can go get some answers.”

*****

Ulaz insisted on having that conversation in the nest. Once they all settled down comfortably, with Keith cuddling up against the pack leader and the doctor seated opposite of them, Kolivan’s patience was at an end.

“Alright Ulaz, you have been cryptic long enough, what is happening? Why couldn’t Keith go when he was alone even though he doesn’t need stimulation anymore.”

“It’s one of his kit instincts.” said the doctor.

“I’ve never heard of an instinct that does that.”

“That’s because it is inherited only in certain bloodlines and even then it is rarely expressed because it is recessive. It was something that greatly aided the survival of kits of our primitive ancestors, but most of the population lost the gene for it once our species became civilized. Since Keith is not very familiar with galran biology, I will explain this in detail. So be patient ‘Van.

“Now, kit, I'm sure you have already noticed, but galra are very long-lived. Because of this, we don’t have a very high sex drive.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” whined Keith, hiding his face in Kolivan’s cloak.

“Don’t worry!” Ulaz laughed, “You are still too young for that. It will be many more deca-phoebs before Kolivan has to explain the delicate subjects to you.”

The doctor only laughed even harder at the combined mortified groan of “Nooo!” from Keith and a grumble of “Why do I have to do that, you are the doctor here.” from Kolivan.

“As I was saying, galra have a low sex drive under any normal circumstances. While our pack and population are stable, it is not unusual for males to seek out intercourse less than 3 times a deca-phoeb and females are practically asexual during that time. Nowadays, a female wishing to conceive while living among a large group of galra would take hormones to induce heat and trigger her fertility, but our animal ancestors did not have any such products. There were two ways in which their heats triggered back then: a decrease in population density or witnessing the death of a kit.

Newly formed packs would desire their own kits, but their females would often be sterile due to the presence of older established packs. In order to be able to breed, these new packs would seek out other nests, kidnap kits, and murder them. As such, the kits had developed a plethora of instincts preventing them from being found by strangers. One of these was the instinct to conceal their scent. Since kits don’t have the glands yet, the only thing that could give them away in that sense were their excretions. Since the scent of adult galra’s urine and faeces is much stronger, the kits would only excrete when the adult members of the pack were present to mask the scent with their own. They would also have a very strong aversion to any place where the scent of strange adults could be found. Keith, your anxiety around the bathrooms and the reason why you couldn’t go when Kolivan wasn’t with you are due to this instinct.”

“Does that mean someone will always have to come with me when I need to go?”

“Not necessarily.” Ulaz stretched a bit and ruffled Keith’s hair consolingly. 

“Some studies had been done on kits exhibiting this behaviour and it turns out that the scent of the pack is what is really important in allowing them to eliminate freely. Since you no longer need stimulation, I have requested that the lavatory we had installed be activated. It should be functional around dinner time. Of course, those installations have scent blockers too, but nowhere near as effective as the nursery or our suits, and I can partially disable them. You will need to be accompanied by one of us until our scent has permeated the ensuite, but after that, you will be able to go alone.”

“That kinda sucks, I was hoping that I would finally get to go to the bathroom by myself. No offence to you guys, but my human half still finds the whole ‘being helped to the bathroom’ thing mortifying.”

“Don’t worry, kit, you’ll get your privacy soon enough. Now, I do believe that you are running late for a nap.”

Keith just huffed indignantly as he was unceremoniously deposited onto his spot in the nest and tucked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, another problem with the long-living species is that if the older generation doesn't die, there is not enough space for the new generations. The ancestors of galra dealt with this by evolving pheromones that would suppress the fertility in others. The fertility of a population would then depend on its size, but also on the physical health of the individuals, as strong, healthy galra would produce more of this pheromone.
> 
> This would mean that in an area with established packs with healthy members, the fertility of the overall population would be low, but if a catastrophic event occurred, thinning the population, the fertility would go up and the area would quickly be repopulated. The galra who move to new locations, such as planets inhabited by a different civilization, experience a massive spike in sex drive (resulting in many hybrids) and need to take artificial suppressants. 
> 
> Also, my theory is that Keith expresses a lot of recessive traits due to being half-human and therefore having only half the number of normal galran alleles. I like to imagine that galra are tetraploid (4n), with female gametes being diploid (2n) but male gametes being haploid (1n). A zygote would form from one egg cell and 2 sperm cells.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith wasn’t really sure what he expected to see when Antok had led him into the newly functional bathroom, but he was certain that a giant litterbox was not it. It stood there innocuously, with a rim coming up to his mid-thigh and a side compartment housing a spade. If it wasn’t for the fact that Antok was standing behind him he would have turned around and left. As it was, he turned to the older galra and asked the most coherent question his brain had managed to formulate:

“What the fuck?”

Antok burst into a fit of laughter at his flabbergasted expression and needed a few doboshes to catch his breath.

“I take it that this is not something you have ever seen before?”

“I kinda have? On Earth, things like this are made for some of the animals we keep as pets, but I’m going to assume that this only looks like a litterbox on the outside and it works differently.”

“Well, I don’t know what a ‘litterbox’ is, but I can tell you that this is a standard all-purpose toilet and you would find one of these in every galran home. What would a human toilet look like?”

“A bowl-shaped thing with a hole in the bottom connected to the sewer system. There is a bit of water in the bowl and some more in a tank connected to it and after using it you would use the water in the tank to flush everything away.”

“You befoul your own water supply? That doesn’t seem like an efficient resource management strategy, but I guess have seen similar contraptions in that castle the Alteans have.”

“Yeah, the ones in the castle used some weird chemical to sanitize themselves though. And a litterbox is just a box with some sand in it. Once the pets use it, their owners use a spade to get the dirty sand out and throw it away.”

“That’s not how this one is used. The substrate in the toilet contains microorganisms that feed on biological waste and decompose it to simple molecules such as water or carbon dioxide. It’s an extremely efficient process and the resulting material is gathered for further use. The spade is used to dig a small hole and to cover it back up once you are done. The microbes take care of everything afterwards, but it’s considered common courtesy to leave a mark on the place you just used and to use the space closer to the back if you need to poop. The little buggers are fast, but it’s not instantaneous so it’s better to show the others which spots have been used recently.”

“Wait, does that mean that you will be using this place too?”

“Of course. You see, the one disadvantage of the toilet is that it needs to be fed, or it will die out and stop working. And trust me, you do not poop enough to feed a colony this large.”

Keith was a blushing mess at this point and thanked his lucky stars that the way he displayed embarrassment was not easily detectable. Otherwise, he would never hear the end of the teasing. Trying to sound as composed as possible he ground out:

“Can we stop talking about pooping now?”

Antok was still chuckling but nodded.

“I’m going to show you how to use it without getting pee all over yourself. You hadn’t had to do that since you transformed and Ulaz said that humans are shaped differently down there.”

That had been the main reason why Antok was now with him. Having a tail tended to complicate the process and he would be able to actually demonstrate what to do and what to avoid. Not to mention that galran dangly parts were not dangly at all, but rather compact in a manner resembling the Earth cat’s (Keith was very happy to find out that they did not have barbs or any other weird characteristic besides being sheathed inside the body). Combined with the all-covering fur, it helped Keith feel less self-conscious about being naked where strangers could see him, like in the infirmary (“‘Laz, why do I have to be naked to get my shots?”), but it also made going to the toilet much messier than he was used to. He turned his full attention to the older galra. If he got all the details now he wouldn’t need another demonstration. 

Antok took off his armour and climbed into the box. Taking the spade he dug a hole about an arm’s length from the edge, commenting on the appropriate depth, and then he squatted slightly behind it, legs far apart and tail up. Leaning forward until his upper body as at about 45% angle to the horizontal, he grabbed onto the edge of the box for balance and released.

*****

Keith watched the process wide-eyed. He had known that galra had large bladders and Antok was huge in general but seeing the volume he produced even though he previously admitted that he didn’t really have to go yet was staggering. He watched as the stream neatly hit the bottom of the hole and drained down slowly, creating a small puddle for a while. No wonder that they considered his bladder tiny.

Once Antok was done, he reached off to the side and pulled out something resembling the box of wet wipes. Quickly demonstrating which areas of fur needed to be wiped and how to do it in the most sanitary manner, he threw the used wipe in the hole and buried it along the rest of the waste. Reaching out again (Keith finally noticed the well-hidden shelf on one side of the box) he retrieved something resembling a spray can.

“This is what we use to mark the used places. The chemicals inside are volatile and fade over time so that the mark disappears by itself at about the same time as the things in the toilet are done decomposing. Your turn now, kit”

Once Antok jumped out, Keith reluctantly climbed in, nervous at the close scrutiny. He picked up the spade but hesitated, unsure of which spot to pick.

“You can dig near the front, that way you can use both arms for balance.”

*****

Antok noticed how unsure the kit seemed. At first, he had intended to comment as little as possible since he knew that Keith got really flustered over such things, but he could see that the kit reacted positively to instructions. Checking the position and the depth of the newly dug hole he gave a sign of approval and watched Keith as he tried to position himself. After a while, Keith gave him an expectant look, as if waiting for a signal.

Antok came closer and scrutinised the kit’s position. He nudged his legs a bit farther apart and his body a bit farther down and nodded in approval. That seemed like the only thing that the kit’s bladder was waiting for, as he started peeing immediately. The stream hit the side of the hole first and Antok pushed Keith forward a bit more, steadying him with one hand to make sure he wouldn’t overbalance and fall. The kit finished quickly, a surefire sign that his bladder was still undersized in terms of galran anatomy, and cleaned himself without a hitch. 

Once the hole was covered and marked, the kit jumped out of the box, once again refusing to look at him. The speed with which the kit could switch between fully leaning into his galran instincts and following the ingrained rules of human social propriety was enough to give Antok whiplash. Luckily, he knew the best way to stop the younger from brooding. Once they were both dressed again, he stealthily moved closer and poked the kit in the sides, eliciting a startled giggle. Halfway out of the nest room he turned and called.

“Did you know that when you get embarrassed the tips of your ears twitch? It’s adorable.”

Keith caught up to him near the door and pounced on his back. Antok easily caught him and threw him over his shoulder. They would continue the game of chase and playfight once they got to a training room.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith was a bit bewildered when a Blade member ran into the training room saying that Kolivan needed to see him and Antok. The bewilderment changed to concern when the door opened and he could feel the tense atmosphere inside. Ulaz and Thace were standing in rather aggressive positions and glaring at the leader, while Kolivan sat at the table stone-faced.

As soon as they were inside, Antok turned to the doctor, usually the most reasonable of them all, and asked what was going on. Ulaz merely growled and motioned towards the seated galra.

“I need Keith to go on a mission.”

For a moment, Keith thought that Antok would kill Kolivan. The largest pack member lunged forward with a roar, not drawing his blade, but baring his fangs and claws instead. A spike of hot pain shot through his head as his instincts warred within him. He needed to go help Kolivan who was his primary caretaker, but he couldn’t fight Antok. Antok was pack, he was supposed to be safe! The whole situation was wrong. Very, very wrong. His ears were ringing as he stumbled back against the wall and slid down.

*****

Ulaz and Thace jumped to restrain Antok when it became apparent that he intended to physically assault Kolivan. The tailed galra was struggling against them, intent on reaching his target and Kolivan got up, ready to defend himself, but all four stilled when a chilling sound permeated the room and made their fur bristle.

The cry - half terrified scream half whine - came from their kit, who was sitting on the ground curled up into the smallest ball possible and covering his eyes and ears. Kolivan was at his side first, despite being the farthest away, and Ulaz got there only a fraction for a tick later. The other two hovered behind them, letting the more qualified members of the pack do their work.

Kolivan pulled Keith onto his lap and nudged him gently, attempting to uncurl him so that Ulaz would be able to check on him. The kit resisted for a while, but after a few doboshes, he abandoned the pose in favour of clinging to the leader and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. He was trembling and his breathing was fast and shallow. 

“We need to take him to the nest and stay with him until he calms down,” the doctor pronounced after a short examination, “He needs to be reassured that his pack is still stable. That means no aggression at all. Go fight some simulations if you need to, but do not enter the nest unless you can control yourselves. Any more displays like that could send him into shock.”

The warning was unneeded. The distress signals their kit was giving off doused any anger as surely as a bucket of cold water poured over a candle. Kolivan adjusted Keith in his arms and stood up. Carrying the kit he left the office, the other three filing behind him, and walked through the thankfully empty corridors to their nest room. The stronger scent of the pack permeating the area caused Keith to further uncurl and whimper longingly at the pile of pillows and blankets. The kit wanted to burrow into the warm safety of the nest but not at the cost of letting go of Kolivan. Ulaz, who had already anticipated this reaction, collected the kit’s favourite blanket and bundled it around him once the leader lowered them down carefully.

Over the next varga, the kit would call out nonverbally to assure himself that his pack was still present and the others would answer and purr and pet him, mollifying the panicked hiccupy chirps. At some point during that time period, Kolivan had felt warmth spreading over his lap and quickly withdrew the kit’s blanket to keep it dry. The circle of wetness on the front of the kit’s pants kept spreading, but the leader made no motion to move away from him. Ulaz came closer and examined Keith again, before typing a message on his datapad, not wanting to disturb the kit by speaking out loud.

Ulaz : He’s stress marking. I know this will be uncomfortable for both of you, but you’ll need to wait until he falls asleep before cleaning up. Right now he needs to smell his own scent on you more than he needs to be dry.

Kolivan nodded in understanding and drew a random sheet from the nest around them to prevent the kit from feeling cold.

*****

Eventually, Keith’s death-grip on Kolivan’s vest slackened and he relaxed into slumber. Once they were sure that the kit was sleeping deeply enough to be moved without waking, Antok and Thace left the room to fetch a washbasin and some clean cloths to give him a sponge bath and Kolivan got up to change out of his wet clothes. He had his Blade suit on, which prevented any of the urine from actually reaching his fur, but his cape would need to be washed. Ulaz, meanwhile, reorganized the nest, removing any wet blankets and pillows and throwing them onto a pile of things that needed cleaning.

Once they were all settled again, a tense awkwardness began to creep through the silence again until Antok sighed and turned to Kolivan.

“I’m sorry, ‘Van. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. The kit had been badgering me about when will we start taking him on missions and you announcing it like that just made me snap. I know that we are in a war and we are never really safe but the idea of letting him go out alone...”

“I understand, and I forgive you this time. I am not happy with the situation, but Keith did pass his trial and he is as much of a member of the Blade of Marmora as any of us. I will not send him out needlessly, but in this case, he is the only one capable of completing the mission.”

“How so?”

“We need intel from an enemy base but the only safe access point is in a maintenance shaft deliberately built to be too small for an adult galra.”

“But large enough for Keith?”

“Just about. The only other alternative would be to storm the base to get to the heavily guarded control room. There is no way to accomplish it by stealth and there would be casualties.”

“Alright, but I want in on the operation. When?”

“In a movement at the soonest. The sentry routines are still being observed. Besides, the kit needs to receive his personalized suit first.”

Antok simply hummed at that, getting lost in thought. Getting new recruits outfitted with an armour suited for their special talents was his task and he had been looking forward to making Keith’s. Mentally going over some ideas he grinned and settled down to sleep. Yes, their kit would have the best damn suit in the whole Blade.


	5. Chapter 5

“I don’t get it, don’t I already have a suit?” asked Keith in an annoyed tone as he trotted behind Antok.

He had really been looking forward to training. The quintant before he was forced to stay in the nest on Ulaz’s orders and he grudgingly obeyed, partly because at least two of his pack members stayed with him at all times, partly because he had a terrible headache. He wasn’t happy when Antok announced that they had to make a detour to get him fitted for a new Blade suit first.

“The one you have is slightly too large for you and it doesn’t account for your new features. And it is merely a training suit. Each new recruit is assigned one of those before we have the chance to evaluate their talents. After that they get upgrades depending on the types of missions they will be sent on. You will be going on stealth infiltration missions, so you need to get some serious life-support tech and cloaking. Plus some small silent weapons to instantly take out anyone who spots you. Although, if your missions go well you will not need to use those at all.”

“So you will only send me on safer missions? Am I not good enough as a fighter?”

Antok stopped, turned to Keith and kneeling down to be at his eye level, he laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Keith, there is no such thing as a safer mission and the only reason why I am allowing for you to go on a mission at all is that you are an excellent fighter. I understand that sneaking around, waiting, and not engaging is not in your nature, but we have to assign our agents to tasks where their abilities are needed the most and where they have the greatest advantage. Our rate of attrition is bad enough even without deliberately putting ourselves at a disadvantage and you, kit,  _ would _ be at a disadvantage in a fight with an adult galra. You are skilled, yes, but you are also smaller and weaker. On the other hand, your small size and excellent piloting skills give you a strong edge in terms of solo stealth missions. And those are very dangerous. You would be in an enemy territory alone, and if something happened to your escape ship, you could get stranded there for quintants before we could organize an extraction. We are letting you go because we believe that you are capable of surviving that.”

“You would come and rescue me? I thought that the motto of the Blade was mission before the individual.”

“That’s true, but what is meant by that is the overall mission of ending the oppressive regime of the Galra Empire, not an individual assignment. Every dead blade is a big loss on the way towards that goal. You will be sent on missions to retrieve information, but if you judge that the risks of obtaining it are too large, we expect you to pull out. A piece of intel is rarely vital enough to be worth the life of an experienced agent. And we do rescue all members we can. It’s one thing to not turn around to help someone who tripped while escaping an exploding ship with ticks to spare and another to abandon someone who can be extracted alive at a risk no higher than an average mission.”

“Oh.”

“That was a heavy topic,” Antok said as he stretched to full height and turned towards their destination again, “Cheer up, kit. Let’s go see if the techies can make your suit fire a laser from the tip of your tail like the Voltron lions.”

*****

The technicians did indeed manage to install a tail laser and many hidden blades laced with strong sedatives or charged to give a shock on impact. The cloaking tech was not as good as green lion’s, but since Pidge had shared the technology with the Blade of Marmora it was much more advanced than anything they had been capable of before. They measured Keith in places he didn’t believe could possibly be important for adjusting his suit and then took it all away to do some finetuning, telling Antok to pick it up in two quintants.

Keith expected that they would continue towards training rooms next, but Antok instead led him to a small side room with a mannequin wearing a Blade suit.

“Well, kit, we can’t do the weapon demonstrations before your suit is done and you are as familiar with the cloaking your friend provided as any of us, so this will only be a short lecture.”

“Lecture? Why?”

“You need to understand the rules of the Blade of Marmora dress code and the life support systems in your suit.

The dress code rules are pretty simple. Rule one is that as soon as you get your suit you must always wear it while outside our nest room. This is partly because you wouldn’t have the time to change if there was an emergency and partly because wearing it constantly will help reveal any uncomfortable parts or malfunctions. Trust me, if your armour is gonna chafe, you will want to find out about it before you get stranded on a meteor for a movement. Even in the nest, it’s generally a good idea to only take it off when you are getting ready to sleep. There’s a compartment where you can put it to get it cleaned in a varga, I will show you when we get back.

Rule two is that as soon as you discover anything wrong, no matter how minor, you report it to the tech department immediately. Even if it’s just a cosmetic defect, it’s better to let them check it than to assume that it will be fine. We also check each other’s suits among the pack, so don’t worry about missing something because it’s in a place where you can’t see it.

Now for the life support. Your suit will have a somewhat heavier version than the average blade’s since it’s expected that you might have to stay in one position for a long time even if you don’t get trapped. This comes at a tradeoff for weaker armour, so if you get into a combat situation, focus on dodging, you won’t have much defence.

You have the typical deep space recycling systems for moisture and oxygen, plus some auxiliary storages which will capture the molecules when they are present in the surrounding environment. At full capacity, you will have enough water and air to last you for four movements of aimless drifting in space, but if you can keep recharging them they can last almost infinitely.

The filters also act as extremely strong scent blockers to prevent discovery. It’ll feel weird for the first few quintants, not being able to smell yourself, but you’ll get used to it. Aside from water and air, the suit will also contain small packages of nutrients. If you ever run out of rations on a mission and can’t safely get more food, you can trigger the pouches and they will inject nutrients directly into your bloodstream.

Then there’s a thermoregulation subsystem designed to work both in deep space and in different planetary environments and of course, the waste filtering systems.”

Antok paused for a moment looking at Keith thoughtfully. The kit fidgeted slightly, a clear sign that the topic made him uncomfortable so he decided to sum it up quickly.

“I believe that your paladin armour had the same feature, so I won’t go into too much detail on how it works, but both liquid and solid waste will be safely and sanitarily eliminated if you need to go while wearing the suit, without producing any scents that may be detected. The waste filters get emptied during the suit cleaning and should last for 3 phoebs, so you don’t need to worry about them if your mission gets stretched. As for peeing, I know you still can’t do that without a pack member present and I believe that Ulaz is working on an emergency solution, just in case, but until something reliable is found, you will only be allowed on short missions.”

Lowering his voice, Antok continued:

“Also, if you ever need to go and none of us are around to come with you, you can lay down in the nest and use the suit.”

Keith didn’t particularly like the idea of wetting himself deliberately, but he had used that feature of his paladin armour quite a bit, both in prolonged fights and while on his search for Shiro. It always felt weird, the moisture being sucked away from his lower region. He had never had to use it for the other (he wasn’t sure if the paladin armour even had that function) and he resolved to avoid doing so at all costs. Sanitary filters or not, that would be disgusting.

“You got the gist of it?”

“Yeah, systems good for long term survival, not for defence against physical blows. Dodge, recharge water and oxygen, injectable nutrients, waste filters. What was it that Ulaz is working on?”

“Last time I heard it was either a catheter or an injectable topical muscle relaxant. He wants to come up with something less invasive though. Anyway, we gotta do a quick practical exercise in recognizing damage before we can go on. I’ll teach you some stealth skills afterwards.”

Keith got up with a huff and walked over to the mannequin. He still wasn’t particularly happy about the delay to training or the fact that the training would not include honing his sword skills, but at least he was learning important information. And the mental image of Antok, one of the biggest and burliest Blades on the base, teaching stealth was actually quite funny.


	6. Chapter 6

Adrenaline thrummed through Keith’s veins as he crawled through a narrow vent towards his goal. The galra base he was infiltrating was an important hub of supply routes for several sectors, including a few mining rare ores essential in the production of robotic sentries. Thace and Antok were hidden in an asteroid belt orbiting the same gas giant as the planetoid the base was built on and were giving him directions to the access point. Once he got there, all he had to do was to attach the chip, download the data, get back to his camouflaged speeder, and navigate through the sentries to their ship. 

The guard patterns outside the base were not too difficult to slip through for him. It required a lot of agility and manoeuvring, but he had been the best pilot in his class for a reason and flying Red only sharpened his reflexes further. The little one-person speeder was no lion of Voltron, but it was light and fast. The few-tick gaps between the sentries had been enough to let him get in and it would be a child’s play to get back out.

“Quiznak, a cargo ship incoming,” sounded from the communicator just as he finished that line of thought.

‘I just had to go and jinx it,’ thought Keith with a sigh.

“There’s nothing to be done about that. I’m too far in to get out before it docks. Just keep giving me the directions and with a bit of luck they will have settled back into the usual patterns by the time I get to the exit.”

The scouts keeping eye on the patrol patterns had reported that a docking cargo ship would cause the sentries to scramble and swarm unpredictably in large numbers, no doubt to discourage any attempt to slip in with the large ships. It would take up to 6 vargas for them to settle into their usual predictable patterns afterwards. This meant that Keith might have to spend a long time waiting in a maintenance shaft, bored out of his mind, but there was nothing he could do about it without risking giving away his position. The vent he was in ran just above a frequented corridor and he had to move slowly, often stopping to let the base’s occupants pass by. At his current speed, he wouldn’t be able to get back to the exit in less than a varga and he was only halfway to his destination. He estimated that the entire journey through the vents would take at least three more vargas, and that would be without accounting for the fact that he had no way to turn around and would have to awkwardly crawl backwards on the way out.

*****

It ended up taking full five vargas to get to the access point and back to his speeder. Going back was even more difficult than Keith had predicted, having to feel around with his feet to find the right turns. By the time his foot reached into the empty nothingness of open space, he was feeling more than a little claustrophobic. What’s more, he could feel the beginning of an ache in his bladder. He had peed just before leaving the ship, cuddling between Thace and Antok to relax enough to let go, but he was used to having a bathroom break every four varga during the day cycle and his body was letting him know he was overdue for one. He resisted the urge to launch himself out of the confined space, drew himself back in, and contacted Thace:

“What’s the status on the patrols? Are they still scrambled?”

“No, they have kept exactly to their usual paths during the last 23 doboshes. I think they have settled back to routine.”

“Ok, I’m ready to go. How much time before the first window?”

“42 ticks and counting.”

Keith carefully pushed himself out of the vent and activated his speeder. The gaps between the sentries would be more complicated on the way out and he was already exhausted from focusing on not being found, listening for any sign of nearing footsteps. He was determined to push through, however, and he turned his full attention to the screen before him. Thace had sent him the exact path he needed to follow and the timer showed that he had four ticks before he could start. Gripping onto the handles of the spacecraft, he mentally counted down and pushed off.

Keith was completely focused on the path displayed before him, slowing down and speeding up, swerving in every possible direction, and occasionally looping back as he navigated the shifting invisible three-dimensional maze of sentries. Everything went smoothly for a while and he could finally see the meteor behind which his packmates were hiding in the distance when his screen flashed red and Thace shouted at him in panic. Keith reacted on instinct, stopping immediately and turning on a full cloak, and not a moment too soon, as a dozen drones swept through the area he would have been flying through. His communicator buzzed and he could hear Antok swearing in the background while Thace was typing rapidly.

“I’m calculating a new path from your current position. Stay under the cloak and don’t move.”

Easier said than done when drifting through space, but Keith managed to kill what momentum he had left using the thrusters on his suit. The full cloak was extremely costly and his speeder couldn’t move while it was on. Moreover, it would only last for 10 doboshes total, before the auxiliary batteries powering it ran out, and then he would be revealed to the enemy. His heart was pounding in his ears and he could feel the creeping chill of anxiety crawling under his skin. He had 7 doboshes and 36 ticks left.

When the cloak timer reached 2:13, his screen and comm came on again. 

“I have a new path, get ready and put your thrusters on maximum, it will open in 4,3,2,1...”

Keith dropped the cloaking, turned on the thrusters on his speeder and his suit both, and shot off in the direction indicated on his screen. The trajectory was straightforward, but the time window was minuscule. He almost made it onto the awaiting open ramp when a sentry registered him, sounded an alarm, and gave chase. One of the enemy shots hit his speeder and took out the engine, but before it could take aim at Keith, it exploded. Antok was standing on the ramp holding a heavy rifle and providing cover fire. Keith was close enough by then for the momentum to carry him into the ship and he used his jetpack to avoid hitting Antok. The door began closing even before he was fully in and they made the jump into hyperspace less than a tick later.

*****

Keith stayed laying on the ground next to the busted speeder and let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. A pair of large arms picked him up and he lashed out, thinking he had been caught by the enemy, but soon realized it was only Antok. The large galra had his mask off and was nuzzling Keith’s hair, scenting him to reassure himself that the kit was alright. He seemed unphased at being hit and continued to rumble and purr for a few more doboshes before he calmed down enough to talk verbally. He then proceeded to debrief Keith, taking the chip containing the downloaded data and checking him for injuries, not letting him go for a moment. The kit, seeing he would likely be held for the rest of the flight back, wriggled a bit and tried to get comfortable. He needed to pee and had hoped he would be able to go once he made it onto the ship, but the undertone of stress in his packmates’ scents put him on edge and he couldn’t relax enough to let go. There was an insistent achy pressure in his bladder which he translated as ‘you’d better go within the next varga or you’re getting locked up’ but he was too high-strung now. A jaw-cracking yawn interrupted his musings and he snuggled closer to Antok’s chest. Maybe if he took a nap his pack would find a way to resolve it for him.

*****

The motion of their ship entering a gravitational field woke the kit up. Blinking sleepily, he looked around to find himself still curled up in Antok’s arms and he pushed against the larger galra, signalling that he wanted him to let go. Antok grumbled a bit, but eventually released him. Everyone in the base knew how old the kit was, and wouldn’t think any less of him if they saw him being carried, but Keith liked to keep up the appearance of total independence around galra other than his pack, and they accommodated his wishes. He was set onto his feet just as Thace exited the cockpit and all three walked into the hangar together. Kolivan and Ulaz were already waiting for them.

“Report,” the leader got right down to business. 

“The mission was mostly a success. We got the data all right, but on the way out we were surprised by an irregularity in the patrol pattern. There are no injuries, just a busted speeder, but we had to destroy one drone, so they will definitely know someone was there. Hopefully, they’ll just assume that whoever it was was deterred by the patrols and ran away, but I think we should not send anyone there for a while.”

“Alright. Thace, take the data in for analysis. Antok, go report the damages to the tech department and then run some fight simulations, you reek of frustration and stress. Work the aggression out before you come to the nest. Ulaz?”

The doctor checked the two adults quickly before turning to fuss at the kit. When the other two left to fulfil their orders, he turned to Kolivan.

“Keith is uninjured but has been exposed to the stress pheromones Antok was radiating. You should take him to the nest and stay with him until he can unwind. Also…,” and here he turned to Keith and spoke with a lowered voice, “Do you need to pee, kit?”

Keith glanced about, and seeing that there was nobody near enough to overhear their conversation he nodded: “I tried to just go in the suit on the way back, but I couldn’t calm down enough.”

“That was mostly Antok’s fault, kit. His scent glands are overactive and he telegraphs his emotions. That’s why he wears the mask all the time, it has scent blockers. Don’t worry, Kolivan will take you to our room and you’ll relax soon enough.”

Keith gave Kolivan a look of shy hesitation. He might have been his favourite person, but he was still a bit intimidated by the strict leader persona he projected while on official Blade business.

Kolivan just smiled and ran his nails gently over the spot just behind the kit’s ear. Keith leaned into the touch with a purr. Then he took Kolivan’s hand and let himself be led through the base.

*****

As they were nearing the nest room, Keith was determined to make a dash into the restroom as soon as they got in. When the door opened, however, and the calming scent of his packmates at peace wafted over him, he simply walked in, flopped face down onto the nest and let go. His entire crotch was immediately enveloped by warmth and he marvelled at the technology since his fur was not getting wet at all even though he was basically laying in a pee puddle. 

The pillows next to him shifted a bit and a large hand began running up and down his back. Keith’s ears twitched and he blushed a bit, knowing that Kolivan must be aware of what was happening due to the awkward position of his tail. That appendage frequently annoyed him with its tendency to betray his every mood and especially with clearly signalling when he needed the bathroom. If he wasn’t paying attention it would straighten and twitch upwards, which the members of his pack found adorable but he found absolutely mortifying. He didn’t want to be seen doing a galra version of a potty dance!

Still, the embarrassment of Kolivan knowing that he was peeing his suit in the nest was not enough to outweigh the feeling of absolute bliss the relief brought and Keith kept voiding until he was empty.

“Sorry,” he relaxed with a sigh once he was done.

“No need to apologise kit, the suits are built for it and your comfort is more important anyway.”

Keith hummed in acknowledgement and burrowed deeper into the nest. The pack leader chuckled at the sleepy kit’s antics and helped him undress, taking off the suit and putting it into the cleaning compartment. The kit was almost asleep when Kolivan spoke again, but the serious tone in his voice woke him right up.

“Keith, I have to discuss something with you. Princess Allura contacted me while you were on the mission and requested that I, along with my pack, come to live in the Castle of Lions for a diplomatic tour, to properly represent the Blade of Marmora to the rest of the Coalition. That would mean that we would share living space with the paladins. If you are not ready to face them yet, I can send some senior officers in our stead.”

Keith was torn. On one hand, he missed everyone, but on the other, he could still remember the looks they all gave him. When he stumbled out of Black, eyes yellow and purple fur beginning to sprout on his face, their faces didn’t show fear for him, but fear of him. It was the last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness. His next coherent memory was of the Blade infirmary. He didn’t know what happened between then, but the slight twinge of anger on Kolivan’s usually controlled face when he asked was an answer enough. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Still, he held onto the hope that the initial reaction of his team was due to shock and surprise, not genuine hatred.

“Can I think about it first?”

“Yes, kit, I told the princess to give us one movement to prepare the delegation. You can take a couple of quintants to decide,” Kolivan answered and pulled Keith into a hug. The kit snuggled close and laid his head onto his shoulder, before closing his eyes and simply drawing assurance from the other’s presence. 

*****

When the other three finally returned to their nest, they found Kolivan and Keith asleep, with the former curled protectively around the latter, the kit cuddled up under the leader's chin, curled up into a little ball and holding onto his braid. Nobody could blame them if a few pictures of the adorable scene would be could be found on their datapads later.


End file.
